Page 2 of Promised Vows

His lips stretched into a puddle-maker smile. The whites of his teeth gleamed, and his eyes held a hint of mischief. “No, I think I’ll stick with business.” His eyes traveled over me. “Are you a model?”

“Well, I’m trying to be.” I’d traded shifts with a guy at work so I could make an audition the next day. Apparently, the designer needed someone my size for one of his pieces.

His gaze raked over me again, and I almost expected a comment. Instead, he asked, “Do you enjoy it?”

Shrugging, I rolled my eyes. “Maybe. I think it’s fun to get my picture taken. I haven’t found my calling yet, so I’m playing around until I do.”

His head tilted. “How old are you?”

I skewered him with a look. “That’s not polite.”

“It’s not polite if you’re over twenty-five. You look like you’re barely eighteen.”

I scoffed. “I’m twenty-two, thank you very much.” Looking his face over, I noticed a few subtle wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. He wasn’t young, but he wasn’t old either. “Let me guess, thirty?”

He held my gaze and then nodded. “You’re good. I had a birthday about a month ago.”

“I’ve been to enough modeling auditions now that I’ve gotten pretty good at guessing.”

“Are you ever wrong?”

I smiled. “Maybe.” Yeah, I was flirting with him. Not sure why. I couldn’t seem to keep a boyfriend. Most of the time, they lasted maybe a week or two and then up and disappeared. No call, no text, nothing. Gone like they never existed. For a single gal who wanted a family, it was beyond frustrating.

The thought brought me back to my current companion. In mere seconds, I’d be getting out, and he’d yet to give me his name. That needed rectifying. I stuck my hand out. “Anna Georgiou. Nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Anna.”

“Are you seeing anyone?” I couldn’t believe the question left my mouth, but clearly, he was pulling strings I was unaware of.

Shaking his head, he lifted his lips, showing off more of his teeth. “No. If I was, I wouldn’t have tolerated the flirting.”

Well, that did something to the pitter-patter of my heart. Faithfulness was a humdinger of an attractive quality.

The cab coasted to a stop along the curb.

Tilting my head, I asked, “You won’t give me your name?”

“Perhaps we’ll see each other again.”

I hitched an eyebrow up. “And you aren’t going to ask for my number?” I had curves, and sometimes, my insecurities got the better of me, but for the most part, I loved my body and knew I was attractive. I also knew when a guy liked what he saw. He did.

His eyes held mine as he gave me a smirk. “Have a good evening, Anna Georgiou.”

With a frustrated exhale, I pushed out of the door and shut it a little harder than I normally would. I watched for a second as the cab pulled away, and I let out an exasperated sigh. My net broke as I was landing the fish in my sea. I huffed and faced my brother’s building.

My gaze traveled up the fifteen stories, a sense of dread suddenly pooling in my stomach. For the life of me, I couldn’t fathom why Jason wanted to talk to me. I breezed past the doorman, took the elevator, and punched the number for the top floor. The unease I had about the meeting made the ride up take forever. I wasn’t physically blindfolded; it was metaphorical, and I was inching toward the electric chair.

Stepping off the elevator, I swallowed my fear, put on a shiny new coat of confidence, and walked straight into his office, ignoring his secretary’s protest. I stopped in the middle of the room as the brunette charged in and stopped behind me.

“Mr. Georgiou, I—” the woman, maybe my age, stopped short as my brother faced me.

Loosening the scratchy wool scarf, I met Jason’s cool green gaze. There was a quiet power to him that reminded me way too much of our stormy-eyed father, Michael. Both could command a room with their presence, a heavy watchful silence that made the air crackle.

He held up his hand. “It’s okay, Cora. I’ll take it from here.”

The woman glared at me, and I shot her my best smile as I waited for her to shut the door before I returned my focus to Jason.

“Okay, Jason, why am I here?”

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